Social mobility and the south

But it's a little deceiving to talk about "our" mobility rate. There isn't one or two or even three Americas. There are hundreds. The research team of Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Herndon, Patrick Kline, and Emmanuel Saez looked at each "commuting zone" (CZ) within the U.S., and found that the American Dream is still alive in some parts of the country. Kids born into the bottom 20 percent of households, for example, have a 12.9 percent chance of reaching the top 20 percent if they live in San Jose. That's about as high as it is in the highest mobility countries. But kids born in Charlotte only have a 4.4 percent chance of moving from the bottom to the top 20 percent. That's worse than any developed country we have numbers for.

I see it all the time, and can't quantify it. I partially blame an educational and social system where people are only told what they can't do. It is embedded in Chattanooga with some glorious exceptions, but I don't know how to change it. The problem is people see "change" as evil. With no data to support this thought, I want to blame the "no child left behind" bullshit where you aren't penalized for failing or rewarding for succeeding.